Thunderstorm Wind in Schuyler County, New York

A line of severe thunderstorms passed through the area with scattered damage on July 15. A focused microburst descended upon the northeast side of Montour Falls, heavily damaging or in many cases uprooting a grove of large trees up to 2 feet in diameter including sycamores. They fell in a divergent pattern, indicating a downburst. Many trees or large branches dropped upon several mobile homes, entrapping 3 residents, while also crushing 2 vehicles and a riding mower. On the front side of the microburst, a Department of Public Works storage building was completely blown apart with |only one wall left standing.

A microburst occurred near Monterey which produced estimated peak wind speeds of 85 mph. Multiple properties were damaged, including the collapse of a wooden garage, major loss of a metal and wooden barn, major loss of metal roofing on another barn, and a hole from a 2-inch diameter branch that punctured through two doors of a house. Evidence of hail damage was seen on a house with multiple small holes on the|siding, and copious amounts of hail at least one inch in diameter. After the focused microburst ended, this storm progressed eastward with additional pockets of|estimated wind speeds of 65 to 75 mph, leading to numerous uprooted and snapped trees along a path from southern Montour Falls to Odessa and Alpine. Some of these trees fell onto properties, and a downed electrical wire caused an injury as an individual came into contact with the live wire.

The same line of severe thunderstorms that affected Steuben county earlier moved into Schuyler county and produced more widespread wind damage for the midday period. As the storms entered western sections of the county, dime sized hail was observed by a skywarn spotter in Townsend and 70 mph winds were also recorded by this individual. Further east, many trees were downed in Tyrone, Watkins Glen, and Montour Falls. Several streets were littered with large tree limbs, fallen wires, and in some cases damaged traffic signals. Finally, additional trees and power lines were felled in Mecklenburg as the storms ripped through far eastern portions of the county.